Five games into his sophomore season under center for the Slippery Rock High School football team, Jono Powell had one touchdown pass and four yards rushing.

No one could have predicted the rampant success Powell would have after that inauspicious start.

I certainly didn’t.

This season as a senior, Powell passed for 1,116 yards, rushed for 1,225 more and became the first quarterback to win the Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy.

How about that for growing into the position?

What made Powell’s accomplishments even more remarkable was that, at 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds soaking wet and in full uniform, he was often the smallest dude on the field.

But he certainly was one of the toughest.

He took more punishment than Rocky. He was smacked in the face more than Curly Howard.

Yet he kept getting up for more.

For awhile, Powell doubted whether he would play in college. That question was answered recently when he committed to Waynesburg University.

For all his on-the-field grit, his character off of it is just as impressive.

“I try not to put it all on me,” Powell told me recently. “The other guys on our team worked just as hard as I did.”

And they, too, were rewarded.

Four of Powell’s teammates also will play in college next season. There will be 10 former Slippery Rock football players suiting up on Saturday’s next fall — an impressive number from a relatively small school.

“That really shows how hard we all worked together,” Powell said. “We came together as a team.”

Powell probably won’t play quarterback at Waynesburg. The Yellow Jackets have Jon Grudenitis with seven QBs on the roster.

But does it matter? Powell will find his way on the field somewhere, either as a kick returner, safety, running back — heck, I wouldn't put long snapper past him — and he’ll probably prove pundits wrong.

Again.